Sexual Victimization in Prisons

A recent report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) finds that there were 8,763 allegations of sexual victimization in adult correctional facilities in 2011, an increase from 8,404 the year before and a significant increase from 6,241 in 2005.  The report is part of BJS’ data collection efforts under the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA).  Other findings include:

1. only 10% of allegations in 2011 were substantiated and determined to have occurred after an investigation;
2. about 52% of substantiated incidents involved only inmates and 48% involved staff with inmates;
3. females make up about 7% of state and federal prison inmates but females were victims of 22% of inmate-on-inmate conduct and 33% of staff-on-inmate conduct; and
4. in cases of staff sexual misconduct, 85% of these cases resulted in the staff member losing his or her job and in 56% of the cases the staff member was arrested or prosecuted.

For more information, read the full report, Sexual Victimization Reported by Adult Correctional Authorities, 2009-11.